Internet Protocol TeleVision (IPTV) is a novel technology for providing various interactive services including digital television for home users by using broadband cable television network integrated with various technologies, such as Internet, multimedia, communication and the like.
IPTV services comprise channel services and services on demand. The channel services enable all users to watch the same content at the same time, comprising: ordinary live channels, carousel channels, and time-shift channels, and it is necessary to depend on these channels when users watch live programs. The services on demand enable each user to freely perform fast forward, fast rewind, and positioning play operation respectively. The services on demand comprise: Video On Demand (VOD), True Video On Demand (TVOD), and Time Shift TeleVision (TSTV) on demand on the time-shift channel of the user.
At present, when the channel service is processed, it only needs to perform simple code stream copy and distribution, and when the code stream needs to be processed, it generally further relies on a specific transcoding server. While a service on demand is processed, it needs to perform file access, play control, and code stream distribution control. Based on the above two different processing manners, the prior practice generally adopts a solution of separating the basic units of the channel service from the basic units of the service on demand, namely, adopting different software architecture, even different hardware architecture. In terms of cost, two different designs will inevitably increase the R&D costs and maintenance costs.